Race on to fill Guptill’s limited overs spot
Martin Guptill still hopes to return to test cricket but for now the injured Black Caps batsman has to watch from afar the race for his limited overs opening spot.
The 32-year-old was ruled out of the United Arab Emirates tour yesterday with a left calf strain which means a recovery period of four to six weeks.
It opens the door for New Zealand A openers Glenn Phillips and George Worker to push their Black Caps claims for next month’s Twenty20 and ODI series against Pakistan, starting with tomorrow night’s first one-day match against Pakistan A in Abu Dhabi.
Guptill suffered the injury while preparing for Auckland’s Plunket Shield match against Central Districts, and now can’t run for two to three weeks as his rehab begins with an eye to a return for Auckland in December’s Plunket Shield matches then the Sri Lanka limited overs series starting on January 3.
‘‘I had a pretty good winter, injury-less, and picked up a little tweak in the Caribbean and to come back and to be tracking well with that and to get a different injury is extremely frustrating and a bit gutting,’’ Guptill said.
‘‘There’s a big summer ahead and I’ve got to get right for that.’’
Guptill remains the first choice Black Caps limited overs opener and will stroll into next year’s World Cup squad, but said there was no thought to becoming a white ball specialist as his Auckland and Black Caps teammate Colin Munro had.
It’s two years since the most recent of Guptill’s 46 tests, against India at Indore, as he pushes a case as a middle order batsman in firstclass cricket.
‘‘Not at this stage. I’ve still got aspirations to play test cricket so playing out here for Auckland this week was going to be a step towards that.
‘‘I’ve got to focus on the next part of my rehab and get back there fit and strong.’’
New Zealand selectors Gavin Larsen and new coach Gary Stead now have three spots to fill in their T20 and ODI squads for the Pakistan series which starts with the first T20 on November 1 (NZT).
Two places in each squad were left open for NZ A players to impress, before Guptill suffered his injury.
Phillips looks a good bet to return to the Black Caps T20 squad at least, after a prolific few months with the bat.
He was second-highest runscorer in the Caribbean Premier League with 457 at a strike rate of 147, behind Munro (567 runs, strike rate 140), then produced back to back half-centuries for NZ A this week.
His latest knock of 69 not out off 50 balls helped NZ A to a 2-1 T20 series victory over Pakistan A.
Worker kept pace with Phillips in game two, scoring 52 off 46 balls in NZ A’s victory as they added 107 for the first wicket, but scored one and nought either side of that.
One of 20 contracted Black Caps, Worker averages 37.5 from seven ODIS and impressed against West Indies last summer with limited opportunities.
The opening pair, and others pushing for the remaining spots in the Black Caps, have three one-day matches against Pakistan A to do so.